REGINA -- Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh is alone in first place, at least for the moment, here at the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Ontario won their fourth in a row here Tuesday afternoon, hammering PEI’s Suzanne Gaudet 10-2. The victory improved Middaugh to 6-1, which puts her one win ahead of 5-1 Alberta, who were idle on the afternoon draw but return to the ice Tuesday evening to face Manitoba.
Ontario only scored three times against PEI, but they scored big everytime, cracking three’s in the first and fourth ends and then a four-pack in the seventh end.
Ontario was overlooked by many Scotties handicappers at the start of this event, but there’s no ignoring them now. “We’re curling well,” Middaugh said, “and we’ve sent a bit of a statement.”
The loss to Ontario drops Gaudet to 1-5.
In other games, Nova Scotia’s Mary-Anne Arsenault defeated Saskatchewan’s Michelle Englot 8-4 in an emotion-filled game.
Englot left immediately after the game to attend the funeral of her father, Joe Englot, who passed away last Thursday. The funeral is this evening in the nearby town of Montmartre. Saskatchewan has a bye this evening.
Englot received a standing ovation from the crowd at the Brandt Centre following the loss to Nova Scotia. She burst into tears afterward and was comforted by teammate Cindy Simmons.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Kelly Scott continues her quest to claw back into playoff contention. After opening at 1-4, Scott beat Newfoundland 8-4 Tuesday morning and then New Brunswick 7-3 Tuesday afternoon to get back into contention at 3-4.
“Today it just felt easier for some reason,” Scott said.
In the only other game Tuesday afternoon, Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones gave up a four-ender to Quebec in the very first end, battled back to make it a one-point game but then saw it all slip back away when she gave up a three-ender in the eighth end after Jones’s last rock picked.
The 10-8 loss drops Manitoba to 3-3, while Quebec improves to 5-2.
The Scotties resumes Tuesday evening when Manitoba plays Alberta, Nova Scotia plays Northwest Territories/Yukon, PEI plays BC and New Brunswick plays Newfoundland.
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